Ocean Avenue
by discursive
Summary: One-Shot, Song-fic to "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard. Just my take on the song with a twist. OOC/AU/AH/CannonCoupling. Romance/Drama/Friendship and a little Hurt/Comfort. For Lindsey -alwaysassy1118- Happy Birthday!


**Ocean Avenue  
><strong>**…  
>Featuring: Isabella Marie Swan and Edward Anthony Masen<strong>

**One-shot, song-fic. Shout-out to **_**alwaysassy1118. **_**Happy Birthday, Sis; I lurrve you!C=**

…

_**Age: Sixteen**_

"_There's a place off Ocean Avenue where I used to sit and talk with you.  
>We were both sixteen and it felt so right, sleeping all day staying up all night.<br>Staying up all night."  
>-:-<em>

Bella and Edward were the best of friends ever since they turned thirteen and entered the awkward pubescent stage. They leaned on each other through thick and thin.

At the age of fourteen, Edward happened to run into an interesting little spot along what had been affectionately branded as 'Ocean Avenue' as it was along the boardwalk and had a great view of the ocean sweeping up along the Florida coastline. During the night, the dynamic duo would sneak out and go to the spot, staying up over half the night talking and using one of their iPods and sharing the ear-buds. Needless to say, they knew practically anything and everything about each other – from favorite color to every last odd habit.

Some nights, Edward would teasingly lip sync to the song, pretending like he was singing to her. He sometimes counted how many times he could get Bella to blush in one night; the highest was twenty-two.

Neither ever thought about telling the other of the secret crushes, harbored deep within their hearts where no one thought to look…

…

_**Age: Eighteen**_

"_There's a place on the corner of Cherry Street.  
>We would walk on the beach in our bare feet.<br>We were both eighteen and it felt so right, sleeping all day staying up all night.  
>Staying up all night."<br>-:-_

At the age of eighteen, their fifth year of being friends and senior year in high school, 'Ocean Avenue' began to be more often occupied by other young sets of friends. The pair was forced to move on from their memories of young teenage years.

It was Isabella, better known as Bella, who found the new spot. It was another place near the beach, only this time it was on the corner of a street where an old wooden bench sat. During the day, an elderly woman known as Clementine would sit and chew on cherries while reading a book or something, and the place had been dubbed as 'Cherry Street'.

Just like every other night, they'd lose precious sleep and sneak out, going to meet each other. But, they really didn't mind; teenage years are meant for staying up until ungodly hours and sleeping past noon. Bella and Edward would talk, Edward would secretly count her blushes if he was curious about it, and Bella would try her hardest not to get lost in the seemingly endless green orbs set into the young boy's face.

Some nights, they'd ditch the spot and run down to the beach, leaving converse and flip-flops behind, and playing in the soft sand, barefoot. Edward would try and convince Bella to dance, to which she'd vehemently disagree, only to end up giving up after the infamous Masen-pout. They'd twirl around and chase each other around the beach like it was better years.

But don't all good times have to come to an end?

…

_**Age: Nineteen**_

"_If I could find you now things would get better.  
>We could leave this town and run forever.<br>Let your waves crash down on me and take me away.  
>There's a piece of you that's here with me.<br>It's everywhere I go it's; everything I see.  
>When I sleep I dream and it gets me by.<br>I can make believe that your here tonight.  
>That your here tonight."<br>-:-_

After graduation, things went a little south. Edward, well, he was on his way to Columbia University in New York. He didn't want to say goodbye, but he had to.

Bella visited him _once_ while he was there, but was quickly growing more and more distant. I guess the first thing that comes to mind is that Bella _moved on_. But, in all honesty, she'd fled from herself, from the truth. That little high school crush, the one she'd thought she'd been mindlessly stuck on, was a lot more than a crush, and she just couldn't handle it. Newsflash: Bella was _in love_ with Edward. She didn't love him like a brother, like she'd believed, so she felt like she couldn't just stay and harbor the truth of her affections away.

Edward was tormented by that, never getting to see Bella. He tried calling, but she never answered, and the number went out of service by the sixth month of zero contact. He tried emailing her, but the emails started coming back, saying that the address had been deleted. He even tried calling her parents, but they weren't exactly the most helpful, always changing the subject and whatnot. They knew the truth…

Edward finally realized why he was so hung up on it… His little crush was just like Bella's; it had bloomed into true love, and he couldn't shake the feeling. He wondered if she felt it to.

"Edward, I don't think she's coming back," Jasper Whitlock sighed, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder as Edward stared dejectedly at the message on the computer screen.

Edward merely gave a little nod, slowly closing the internet and turning off his laptop, standing up and walking out of the dorm room that the pair shared. He'd always tried reminding himself of that quote: _When you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, it was never yours in the first place._

Bella just had to come back… didn't she?

…

_**Age: Twenty**_

"_If I could find you now things would get better.  
>We could leave this town and run forever.<br>I know somewhere somehow we'll be together.  
>Let your waves crash down on me and take me away.<br>I remember the look in your eyes, when I told you that this was good bye.  
>You were begging me not tonight not here, not now.<br>We're looking up at the same night sky, keep pretending the sun will not rise.  
>We'll be together for one more night somewhere, somehow."<br>-:-_

It had been a year, and still nothing from Bella. The memory of the pained look on her face when Edward had said that he was leaving for Columbia haunted his memories, taunting him. Maybe she wouldn't have left… maybe she would be in his arms. Maybe he'd be able to place a gentle kiss on her lips and play with the silky strands of strawberry-scented hair as she leaned against his chest, the pair watching a movie.

Edward honestly tried to move on, but couldn't do it. He went on a few dates with Tanya Denali, but that faded out quickly because neither was in the right place for a relationship. He felt a little jealous of Jasper. Jasper had Alice, his girlfriend of four years, with him at Columbia University, and the pair was very much in love. Opposites attract, clearly, considering Jasper was a relatively calm and quiet person, while Alice was like the energizer bunny on crack.

For those wondering, Bella had been attending courses at a college in Port Angeles, and was staying in a little rented house in the dinky, wet town of Forks, Washington. She desperately tried to believe that her old life was behind her, washing away with the rain. But Edward would forever haunt her memories. One day, she was sure of it, she would see Edward again. Question is: would he want anything to do with her after she ran away like that?

Even Rosalie Hale, one of Bella's friends, understood it and held a compassion. Rosalie, Rose or Rosie to her friends, was normally known as the Grade-A bitch of Port Angeles, but was really just fiercely loyal. Emmett McCarty, Rosalie's boyfriend and another friend of Bella's, was usually a joker, but even he couldn't shy away from the serious undertone, the longing, in Bella's voice when she spoke of Edward. He'd told her to go after him. But she couldn't... could she?

…

_**Age: Twenty-One**_

"_If I could find you now things would get better.  
>We could leave this town and run forever.<br>I know somewhere somehow we'll be together.  
>Let your waves crash down on me and take me away."<br>-:-_

Two years, two very long and agonizing years had passed since contact had ceased. Edward would give anything, _anything_, to see Bella again. Edward, along with Jasper and Alice's families who'd relocated to Florida, coincidentally, went back home the summer after their second year at the university. Of course, Edward Senior and Elizabeth never told their son of the amazing news that was quickly spreading around the small Florida town.

Emmett and Rosalie decided they wanted to spend the summer in Florida with her, so when classes ended for the summer, the trio headed out. Bella never mentioned how sad it made her feel when she saw how in love the two were. Emmett and Rosalie had been dating for just under five years, and Emmett was preparing to pop the question. Renee and Charlie Swan thought it would be hilarious to see Bella's reaction when she learned of the big surprise… It really was her first time back to Florida in two years.

A week into the stay, Bella wandered off in the middle of the night, subconsciously heading to 'Ocean Avenue' where it had all started. Her converses tapped quietly against the wood of the boardwalk as she moved across it. She stopped at the end of it, leaning against the wood. Her mahogany hair whirled a little in the slight, ocean-scented breeze. Her head dropped down as she stared at the water now.

There was another set of footsteps, and she was vaguely aware of another person leaning on the wood beside her.

"Come here to think often?" a familiar voice asked, it was deep, but not entirely rumbly or something; it reminded her more like a velvet rope – a bit of texture, but mostly smooth.

Bella's head snapped up, doe-like brown eyes widening in surprise. A man was there, a familiar mess of bronze-toned hair against his head, emerald green orbs staring dejectedly at the waves below.

"I used to, but I ran away one day…" she trailed off.

Edward's head nearly flew up, almost giving him whiplash. "Bella?" he asked, so softly it could've gotten lost among the wind.

She nodded ever so slightly, staring down ashamedly at her hands. "Edward, you have no idea how sorry I am that I left."

He sighed heavily. "Why'd you do it?" Again, the words were almost carried away, but thankfully, she heard them.

"I was afraid. Do you ever learn something, and the only thing you can think of doing is fleeing from it? Leaving it in the dust like some forgotten memory, when really it's the center of every thought running through your head. Edward, I am unbelievably sorry for leaving you behind like that. I should've answered your calls; I shouldn't have run. If you can't forgive me, I understand…"

"Bella, I forgive you, right here and right now. And… I really need to tell you something." Timidly, she looked up to meet his smoldering gaze.

Edward reached out, gently cupping her face and leaning forwards, brushing his lips softly against hers before pressing them fully together. He was doing what he'd dreamt about for the past five years, and he couldn't be happier about that. Bella responded accordingly. They pulled away and he caressed the side of her cheek.

"When you left, I realized so many things. But more importantly… Bella… I love you," he managed against the surprised gaze of his once-best friend.

Bella blinked those chocolate eyes rapidly for a couple seconds before smiling slightly. "I love you too."

The two felt like a weight had been lifted away. Their hands were intertwined as they walked away from 'Ocean Avenue'.

Bella had come back, and Bella was definitely his.

…

_**Age: Thirty**_

A little girl, Vanessa Carlie Masen, giggled childishly at the retelling of how her parents were together. She was six years old, the product of Edward and Bella's honeymoon night. Edward had proposed at the age of twenty-three, and they were married a year later.

Vanessa, sometimes Nessa or Nessie, smiled a crooked smile that rivaled Edward's. Her big, brown eyes sparkled as she listened to the couple talk about it. Even at six, she could tell how close they were, and how it was true love. She played with a lock of her Edward-like bronze hair, biting her lip and listening in fascination.

Currently, the three lived in Florida. Edward was a successful piano teacher at the music academy, bringing in a lot more money than one might expect. Bella was a stay-at-home mom for the time being, but had a new book in the works. She'd actually written the story of herself and Edward into a manuscript, and it had gotten published.

Nobody would have thought that all of this started at a little place known as 'Ocean Avenue'.

**…**

**Author's Note: Once again, Happy Birthday, Sis.**

**And yes, I did in fact not use Renesmee. It just didn't seem like something that they'd randomly come up with no 'Esme' in the picture…**

**Review? **

**{3 Splattered Teardrops**


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